Gain the Confidence to Secure the Financial Support Your Child with Special Needs Deserves with Advocacy Abby

"Feeling lost in the maze of funding options for your child's needs? My proven system can help. I'll guide you through a clear, step-by-step process to identify grants and foundations that match your child's needs. Stop wasting time on dead-end searches. Gain the confidence to secure the financial support your child deserves, and free up your time to focus on what matters most."  -Abby Zacharitz, Empowered by Hope Podcast Guest

Abby Zacharitz, joins us to share her heart-wrenching yet inspiring journey of hope and advocacy in today's episode of Empowered by Hope. From the depths of a near-drowning incident with her toddler son, Advocacy Abby emerged as a force of support for all parents facing the complexities of raising children with medical needs. She offers a system to help families find financial backing and emotional solace without the exhaustive searches that steal precious time.

Hope can often be the strongest medicine, a theme powerfully woven through our conversation as we traverse the paths of families relentlessly pursuing treatments like hyperbaric oxygen and stem cells for their children. These aren't just treatments; they're lifelines, often unreachable through the net of traditional insurance. We spotlight the shared strength and ingenious resourcefulness of Abby's community, parents uniting under the banner of Relentless Hope to share breakthroughs across diverse diagnoses. 

Finally, Abby offers a beacon of guidance for parents navigating the treacherous waters of healthcare costs, and caregiving support. Her comprehensive grant coaching course delivers the tools and knowledge to secure crucial support, moving beyond the noise to address practical needs like insurance nuances and finding custom grants. It's about teaching families to fish in the vast sea of resources, empowering them with independence and clarity. We wrap up by reinforcing our commitment to the mission of Charlotte's Hope Foundation, inviting our listeners to engage, subscribe, and draw strength from stories that cement our belief in unity and the power of a community that faces challenges together, for our children.

Be sure to get on the waitlist for her exciting live digital course that will be packed with tools, guides, and realistic implementation steps to help your family break through limitations that stand in the way of getting your child what they need:

Advocacy Abby

Unlocking Financial Resources: Step-by-Step

Join the waitlist today to be the first notified when it's available:
https://www.advocacyabby.com/#text-d07eb8b2

Get Abby's FREE Workbook: 7 Key Topics: Asking Questions of Your Insurance or Medicaid: https://www.advocacyabby.com/#row-a4dac49b

Other ways to connect with Advocacy Abby:
Website: https://www.advocacyabby.com/#headline-0eda7099
Instagram: 

Get your copy of She is Charlotte: A Mother’s Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Journey with Her Child with Medical Complexities by Emily K Whiting on Amazon

To get more personal support, connect with us directly at: CharlottesHopeFoundation.org
Email: Contact@CharlottesHopeFoundation.org
Facebook: Charlotte's Hope Foundation
Instagram: CharlottesHopeFoundationInc

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:17

Whether you've just been blindsided by your child's diagnosis, or you've been in the trenches of their complex medical needs for a while. Empowered by Hope, is here for you, though we wish you didn't know this heartache. We're so glad you found us, so together we can walk this journey in hope.

Speaker 1: 0:40

Hello everyone, welcome to the Empowered by Hope podcast. It's your hosts here, Ashlyn Thompson and Emily Whiting, and we are very excited to have. We know we always say we have really great guests and that's very intentional. Everybody's got a great story, but we really do put a lot of effort into making sure the people we bring onto the Empowered by Hope podcast have a message that can help propel you in your own life, can help empower you. And, of course, first and foremost, we always go back to hope, because we all know that this is a hard road, but it's not one without hope and joy and peace and so many unexpected blessings. And speaking of unexpected blessings, let me just read you what is on the bio of our amazing guest today, because once I read this, I'm pretty sure I sent a message to Emily immediately and said we must speak to this powerhouse woman.

Speaker 2: 1:38

She must come on board.

Speaker 1: 1:41

So listen to this. Her bio says are you feeling lost in the maze of funding options for your child's needs? My proven system can help. I'll guide you through a clear, step-by-step process to identify grants and foundations that match your child's needs. Stop wasting time on dead-end searches. Gain the confidence to secure the financial support your child deserves, and free up your time to focus on what matters most.

Speaker 1: 2:09

These words are by Advocacy Abby Abby Zacharitz, and when I read that, I personally thought why can't everybody who is a doctor have a profile that reads like this and practice that?

Speaker 1: 2:21

Because she hits it hard right off the bat, and I love the statement that says stop wasting time, because how often on this journey do we find ourselves putting so much of our time, so much of our resources, into simply finding the things we need? We know they're out there, but that is truly probably one of the biggest frustrations of being a medical parent care provider is just trying to find what you need, and it being a messy process, and so, with no further ado I know normally we would do a little bit of an opening up, but since we got started a little bit later today, which is totally fine, I think it's worth it to get right into this amazing topic. So, abby Zacharitz, welcome to Empowered by Hope podcast, thank you. Thank you for sharing your time with us. We are so excited to have you on board and we would just love it if you would kick us off with. How on earth did you become Advocacy, abby?

Speaker 3: 3:21

Yeah, I am so excited to be here. Thank you for having me on, and I love that you talked about hope, because I think that is the difference when I see families going through trials and hearing about diagnosis and um or or acquiring a disability like my son. That's the thing that makes or breaks people if they have hope or if they don't. And I think there's such a great community out there that if you can just look in the right directions like your podcast that you can find hope, and so it's really important. So, thank you for having me. And about 10 years ago a little short of 10, actually April 17th will be our 10-year anniversary of my fourth son. I have five children. I was pregnant with my fifth at the time and my fourth son had a near drowning. Obviously, it was the worst day of our lives and, by the grace of God, he was saved. He was resuscitated after a long time without air, and so we began this journey of the unknown and, honestly, looking back, I know the doctors were just doing their best, but it was really unknown for them. Not many kids have survived, but my son has survived, and so we started this journey of not listening to the worst prognosis and charging for it. I remember there was one moment when my husband said to my son, buddy, if you'll fight, we'll fight. And so he was fighting so hard internally on his body and his mind and just breathing that we began to research things and find things. And I was actually in a really obviously dark place. We were very. It was all new to us. So we had wonderful friends and people reach out saying, hey, have you heard about this therapy? Have you heard about this avenue for kids like this? Have you heard about hyperbaric oxygen? Have you heard about all these things? And so I started to do research over time and I'd present these things and what I found out and really realized was medicine. Practicing medicine is about 10 years behind the new stuff and some of that new stuff is going to eventually become common day practice. You know, save lives, help children with recovery, help children with disabilities, help things, progress forward for those kiddos.

Speaker 3: 5:41

But I didn't have time to wait 10 years. My son needed it now, and so we kind of sat down and talked as a family and just decided we can live with. Okay, we tried it and it didn't work. What we can't live with is we didn't try because we didn't have the resources and so, unfortunately, a lot of these things aren't covered by insurance, and so we started looking for grants and foundations and this whole world opened up to me. And I'm kind of a persistent person when I see a carrot, I run and so I was just committed.

Speaker 3: 6:17

Now, all these treatments we were doing stem cells and hyperbaric oxygen none of it was covered by not even one penny, not the travel nothing, and so it was large chunks of even one penny, not the travel nothing.

Speaker 3: 6:25

And so it was large chunks of money we had to come up with and through grants and through fundraising and through foundations, we would come up each time through our community, Money would get there and our son would receive these treatments. And I found myself sharing this information mom to mom or caregiver to caregiver. And about two years ago, maybe three years ago, I started a group called Relentless Hope. It's still functioning on Facebook and the goal was to just bring all these people together, because what I found was there would be people with totally different diagnoses, that their treatment would benefit my son, but nobody would tell us about it because it didn't fit in the box of that treatment. So, for example, we had occupational therapists that reached out to us. She specialized in the diagnosis of autism and sensory development, but she knew about my son's brain injury and what parts of his brain were affected and she felt like her approach although totally different, 100% different would benefit my son, because this foundational blocks had to be there for him to go forward and everything else.

Speaker 3: 7:35

Now I would never have thought to reach out to her because her specialty was autism and so that was just. It started to open my mind like wait a minute, I don't need to look within my own little box, I need to look outside and see what could help. My son and I knew when we created Relentless Hope I would have all kinds of parents in one group and we could all sharpen each other and ask questions and benefit, and so the goal was to have that opportunity to ask but also get these doctors and these treatments online. Like I talked to these doctors, asked questions to make sure that these parents that couldn't reach them normally had that opportunity. And then every Friday I would post hashtag Fabulous Foundation Friday and the people in the group ate that up. Like I realized like okay, they really want information and grants Like this is what these families need, and so that was the avenue.

Speaker 3: 8:31

And then my son got sick and we had to go through a lot of stuff with him, so it kind of pulled back from that. And then around Christmas time I was talking to one of my best gals, dawn, and I said you know, I have all this information, so much information like so many grants, so many foundations. And I'm just sitting on it and I just felt kind of guilty actually, and I wanted to create something that would benefit my family but benefit all these people. And I wasn't sure what that would be. I said, you know what? I'm just going to share everything for free. I'm just going to throw everything out there that I have and God will provide I'll figure something out. And I started doing that. I couldn't believe the response of how many families and the response of therapists that were so excited to find these things. And yeah, and so I've just been doing that and it's kind of grown since then.

Speaker 1: 9:24

Wow. One thing I'm really curious. It is well. It goes without saying. It's absolutely incredible. The work that you're doing and the response that you received is just further evidence of the extreme thirst that people have for this. I know Emily shared with me that after I shared your information with her, she went down her own rabbit hole based on information that she received by looking through your account, and that's really cool on its own. I am curious. I want to back it up just a little bit. I think Emily and I share that drive with you, that internal drive of pushing for more. But I'm curious at what point do you feel like that you were able to start start going outside the box? Because the box that I had been handed initially felt like a jail cell, if I'm being honest. There was so much shock in just processing. I'm curious what your process was or journey looked like before you were able to start doing that, or did you start doing that immediately?

Speaker 3: 10:31

I would say I definitely started. I was advocating for my son pretty intensely from the beginning, but it had nothing to do with like thinking outside the box, it had to do with my faith, to be honest. So they would say one thing and I'd say I just don't believe that. And I remember at one point they had a psychologist come in and she cleared me, don't worry. But she said they're like we need, they wanted us to talk to you because you kept saying your son is healed and clearly he's not. Can you explain that to me? And I was like I, yes, I understand medicine and I understand the way the brain works. I understand all these things. I'm just saying I'm walking in faith that my son's going to get better and so she's like, oh, okay, that makes sense. So I just I remember advocating in that kind of way, but I honestly I didn't have the heart to look into treatments and stuff, because I saw kids that are now like my son and it was a hard. It was hard and it was. It was devastating at points. Now I look at these kids, I'm like they're doing amazing and I get like so proud of them and stuff.

Speaker 3: 11:38

But at the first, knowing that my everything changed and it was just hard and I couldn't do it. So I had wonderful people like my sister-in-law. She joined some groups because I couldn't look in those groups and they were wonderful. I mean, they were like my group, you know, like just parents trying to do the best for others, and I found friends that viewed the world kind of like I did.

Speaker 3: 12:01

I had to in the beginning, especially I really and honestly, to this day I had to surround myself with positive people. I just didn't have room for the negative. Not that I didn't go there on my own, but I just really needed to be lifted up because I needed to be positive for my son and my other kids. And so they navigated those places. They would tell me this is not a good group for you, this is a good group for you, and they just kind of helped me on that. So I didn't have this understanding of the journey I was going to have to take and the knowledge I was going to have to take and the, the, the knowledge I was going to have to pursue. But I did have this feeling of I need to advocate for him because no one else is going to. Thank you for sharing that.

Speaker 4: 12:46

Yeah, it's amazing I there are so many things I've written down that we could do a million podcasts from, but I'm just I'm so impressed and, as Ashlyn said, that this is Emily speaking for those of you listening I totally went down a rabbit hole when I discovered you, abby, and I was following the chain.

Speaker 4: 13:10

I'm not even sure how I found it. I think it was a post you had that was how to get paid as a caregiver, and so then I started following that because I've been trying to figure out, because there's so many questions about, like you know, as a caregiver, you often can't maintain a job and there's so many added costs and all these things. Anyway, I just found it so helpful because you well, unfortunately, the answer I found was it's not available in Ohio, but that's okay, because it took me like 20 minutes of following what you prompted for the links to figure it out, versus hours of me trying to figure it out on my own. You know which was so helpful, and then I was able to like bookmark the page to know as laws change. I got to keep checking this, you know. So I'm just curious and I know, ashlyn, you already know a little bit more about Wyatt, but I would just love to hear, like tell us about Wyatt, who's Wyatt?

Speaker 3: 13:59

Yeah, so Wyatt. Wyatt Ace is his full name. It means warrior, top warrior, which is one of those God things he knew before. He is a joy. He is funny, he is super sarcastic and snarky. He, he's a fighter. And, uh, he's my fourth child. Everything about him.

Speaker 3: 14:24

His birth, he was 47 minutes and we barely got to the hospital. He just he does his own thing and always has Um. Before his accident he was very feisty. I have videos of him yelling at me and just he doesn't stop and um. That's one of the things I love about him now.

Speaker 3: 14:36

So now he does have a very major brain injury. He's quadriplegic spastic, so his whole body, global spasticity has affected him, so he's unable to use his body, although he can use small parts of it, and he's learned to use some of his spasticity in his favor, like with switch toys, things like that. He was thought to have lost every part of his brain that thinks, and they were wrong. They told us he would never have emotion. He is very emotional. They said he would never swallow. He swallows. He's getting there slow and steady.

Speaker 3: 15:13

We started him with a Tobii Eye Gaze device. It's a device that helps him communicate with his eyes, so it reads his retina and his retina acts as a mouse and so he can click on things and speak with a voice, which is pretty cool to just to hear him advocate for himself, which is amazing. The other day he was going into standing and he had his eye gaze and he said stop, stop, stop, and his nurse stopped and his G-tube was being pulled. And other day he was going into standing and he had his eye gaze and he said stop, stop, stop, and his nurse stopped and his G-tube was being pulled. And so like he, she, he stopped her from hurting him, you know, which is.

Speaker 3: 15:45

I mean, she wasn't obviously trying to, but like it was one of those things where it was amazing. She was like I was so proud of him for telling me, like it was hurting, you know. And so he'll tell us when he doesn't want something. When he wants something, he'll say he'll ask people to leave, kind of rudely sometimes. I mean he just he's very funny, he's. He's just, he's such a light, he's such a light.

Speaker 4: 16:07

He sounds amazing.

Speaker 1: 16:09

You were pregnant right when he had his accident. Yes, was that another boy or a girl?

Speaker 3: 16:17

when he had his accident. Yes, was that another boy or a girl Boy? I have one girl and then four boys and Luke is. We named him Luke because I'm very I just look into things a lot, so I was like I'm never naming a child warrior or anything. And so Luke means bringer of light and his name's Cooper is in a barrel, and so Luke Cooper, and he's just, he's hilarious, he's a really funny kid and he has a different perspective with Wyatt, because my other three knew Wyatt before his accident and Luke only knows him since.

Speaker 3: 16:47

And so Luke just kind of I mean, he gets mad with Wyatt, Like he just sees him as just his brother. And so I remember one time I was holding Wyatt this was years ago in my lap and Luke was throwing a fit and he tripped and fell and Wyatt started laughing because Luke was throwing a fit. And then Luke stands up and turns and he's like Mom, tell Wyatt, that's rude, wyatt, don't laugh at me, that's not nice, just totally appropriate brother interactions. What a gift. Yes, it is a gift. He's, he's my little light, so that's amazing.

Speaker 1: 17:23

Wow, I love that. There's something to be Emily. What is? What does Charlotte mean?

Speaker 4: 17:28

Oh man, that's a really good question. I don't know. I need to look into that.

Speaker 1: 17:32

It's funny. I'm with you. There might be something to this naming thing. I look into stuff too. So I picked Emery's name before we knew everything that was happening and it was brave and powerful and I remember being like I didn't know how much she was going to need to be those things and she's that and more. Yes and I might give the advice in the future. Think very wisely about what your name means, right, I know Stable and calm.

Speaker 4: 17:54

What's the name? That means peace.

Speaker 3: 18:03

Yes, I joked around with my husband and said our kid's going to be like light breeze on a joyful day or something.

Speaker 1: 18:09

Like the easiest. We had a nurse the other day named Sunshine and I was like you know I could go back. I think that would be on the list that is awesome.

Speaker 4: 18:20

Now I got to Google what does Charlotte mean? You know it's funny when we look back at our children. Each name gets more and more intentional and thoughtful. When we first had kids I was so young and just naive, I guess I was just like, ooh, I think that's such a pretty name. And now every name is very intentional, with meaning and all that. So I don't know, I'll look it up. Maybe it has some huge meaning that I never knew.

Speaker 1: 18:46

But we'll have to let us know Now. We'll stay tuned, abby. So one of the reasons that we were anxious to get you on here right now as well is because you had shared an announcement that you have something really exciting coming available, and I want to go into that, but I think maybe it would behoove us, before you kind of make that announcement, can you let us know how people can work with you currently and then you can share with us what's coming up that people will be able to participate in?

Speaker 3: 19:16

Yeah, yeah. So actually right now, anyone could go to my Instagram page and they could look at my reels. I suggest going to the reels, not the posts, and just start scrolling down. Nothing's ever more than 90 seconds, and so you'll know, within two or three seconds probably, if the grant that I'm posting about is for you. Probably 80% of everything in there is grants. Every once in a while, I'll post just something that relates to our journey, or I'll share a little bit about Wyatt and show some of the things he's doing, but I also have a course that's coming up and you want me to go ahead and share about that.

Speaker 2: 19:53

Yeah, go for it up and you want me to go ahead and share about that.

Speaker 3: 19:55

Yeah, okay, yeah. So I keep getting so because I'm posting these grants. Every day I'm getting DMS from parents and caregivers that are looking for something specific, and so I want to help them. They'll say you know, my kid has this diagnosis and I'm looking to do this. Can you please help me find a grant? And I I want to sit down and be able to help each person.

Speaker 3: 20:15

However, I have five kids of my own and it just takes a lot of time, and so I'll usually point back to hey, go ahead and check out my reels.

Speaker 3: 20:23

I'll.

Speaker 3: 20:24

I'll typically know if I have posted something that will help them and I'll say that, or I'll take it into consideration for future posts. But, um, I point them back to my reels, but I've had so many people message me that I have decided to do a group coaching course from A to Z on grants, and so the goal of the course will be able to basically sit with me and go from everything from how to navigate your insurance all the way to looking through grants that are specifically custom for you and your kid. But it's not just me doing the work, it's me empowering you to do it, so I'm going to give you lots of resources that I have exclusive access to, but it's also going to show you how to do this, so you can you know. They say do you give a person a fish or teach them how to fish? I'm going to do both, and that's the goal. So my hope is that each person that comes through the course feels empowered and equipped and are ready to go ahead and get those resources that our kiddos need.

Speaker 4: 21:20

That is amazing. Oh my gosh. So when does this go live? How fast can I register? So you can register for the wait list now?

Speaker 3: 21:25

So I am going to have a wait list and the moment it goes live, I'm going to send out an email to those priority people. So they are going to know before Instagram, before anybody else, anybody that's registered with me. I have their email. I'm going to send out like hey, it's live and I am going to do a flash sell. So the first 48 hours there's only so many spots and once it's gone, it's gone. The first 48 hours will be the cheapest it will ever be, and so if you want to participate in that, you're going to want to get your spot, and once the sale is over, it's over, and then it's going to be a different price from that point on. And I want to encourage so many people to jump on the first time, because that's where I'm going to be live and I'm going to have a question and answer after every section.

Speaker 1: 22:08

I'm so excited for this. And Emily, do you have a question? Because my mind is like flying like a hundred million directions right now.

Speaker 2: 22:16

All I keep thinking is like yes, yes, yes, this is so needed.

Speaker 1: 22:20

Right.

Speaker 3: 22:21

I was going to say I hope it's like. My hope is that I know I felt so lost, Like there was nobody doing this with me. I know there's those rare people that happen to have a neighbor that's in the same situation, but those are very rare. Like so to have just to have a community that's done it and gone before you is my hope. You know that people feel that way when they get off the coaching course.

Speaker 4: 22:45

Absolutely. That's incredible. And just to cut through, I mean honestly what you're describing. You know, I've been on this journey for six plus years and just the first statement you said about how you're going to talk about insurance has my attention before, and I haven't even looked into grants yet or any of that stuff. So, um, I'm, you know, I think that it could be invaluable for so many people. So tell us who would be your target Like if this course is perfect for this person.

Speaker 3: 23:14

This course will mainly be focused on families like caregivers that are caring for their child, that need to get their kids somewhere or something. Or maybe you're just you can get everything, you can afford everything, but you're paying for things. You don't need to pay for All the extra we think about, even if you're on like Medicaid, and so you're like, okay, my kiddo is covered on so many things. There are so many things that are not covered by Medicaid. And so if you're like I mean honestly and just knowing the right questions so like as a caregiver, I'll give you a good example.

Speaker 3: 23:49

I we've we've been on this journey almost 10 years. About six months ago, I found out that my son's insurance not my insurance, my son's insurance paid for pest care for our home. We I would never in a million years of thought to ask the question oh, by the way, can you cover pest care? Now you might be saying, well, I don't need that covered, I'd pay for that. Now you might be saying, well, I don't need that covered, I pay for that. And is that well, because that's being paid for? I have 100 extra dollars that I can give to a therapist, I can give to cover a treatment. There's so many meds and supplements and things that are not covered by his insurance, that now can go towards that. So it's really learning to think outside the box. So anybody that wants to think outside the box or cares for kids, like I have some doctors and therapists that are going to take the course just so that they can better serve the people that they they um serve their clients.

Speaker 4: 24:50

Yeah, this sounds like a great course for um social work too, because they're often the ones you go to. For you know how do I find support? The things that come to my mind in our situation, that are all the extra costs each month that rack up outrageously, you know is things like you know insurance doesn't cover diapers or medical wrap or pads for incontinence. Or what about the four hour one-way trip that we make to the hospital and then the housing we need when Ronald McDonald house doesn't have enough space? Or what about the meals? You know, all that stuff. That's just an astronomical amount of money that is outside of quote insurance and yet it is just part of the cost of care for when you have a child with complexity. So I can't wait to get on your wait list. I'm excited, very excited. I love that.

Speaker 1: 25:39

I also I want to throw out. So for any of you who are listening to this, I can imagine that there are some people hearing this saying that sounds amazing. I don't have time for a course, and I bring this up because I want to kindly challenge that. If you are thinking that, there's two things I want you to consider an amazing opportunity to bring a partner in to help you. One of the things that we've been talking about lately is, you know, I've been working through learning how to share literally use the word share more responsibilities with my husband, Because since day one, I didn't ask, I just took the reins and I ran and he trusted me and also, I think it just was kind of a natural progression.

Speaker 1: 26:25

I was mom slash, mama bear slash, crazy bear and I wasn't really going to relinquish any of that control and I basically led by saying here's what I'm planning to do. Unless you're seriously opposed to it, this is what I would like to do. So speak now or hold your, you know, forever hold, keep it to yourself. I'm proud to say that I have gotten better about that, but I think what I'm hearing is this could be an amazing opportunity that whoever's listening to this let's say you are the primary caregiver and the idea of sitting down to do a course it just feels overwhelming or not like something that you could do, but you know that these resources could benefit.

Speaker 1: 27:05

You. Consider asking a husband to do this, or a grandparent or somebody who's in your support system, who you trust, who has spoken up, that really wants to help you. This could be an amazing thing for them to go through and then be your support system for this. That's a fantastic idea and that kind of takes off your shoulders and not only does it take that. For them to go through and then be your support system for that. That's a fantastic idea. And and that kind of takes off your shoulders. And not only does it take that off your shoulders, but actually it helps you carry the weight of it, because there's a lot of that that goes into this and we want to do everything for our children, Right. But one of the things that stuck out so much to me in your statement on your website I shared at the beginning was, you know, by working with you, one of the biggest gifts to come from this is to create more space and time to focus on what matters.

Speaker 1: 27:50

And that's being the parent we want to be to our child, that's attending to our child's needs, and that's the dividend that I'm hearing. I mean, yes, cost savings are huge. It's financial stressors are big. Being able to have access to things that otherwise are out of reach those are all really important. But just the idea of, like Emily you shared such a beautiful example of, rather than spending Okay, it took you hours, it would have taken me days, like Emily knows this is true it would have literally taken me days to figure out can I get paid, do I qualify? Because I would have asked myself 200 questions that probably were not relevant or helpful until I got down to the 10 that actually mattered and would get me answers. That time saved is everything and I just. Abby is the perfect person who is so well positioned to be your guide, and I just would love to encourage you that if you feel like you don't have time, then maybe this is an opportunity to really challenge yourself, to ask for help and accept that.

Speaker 3: 28:50

And there also is a goal to record all of these. So if you can't make the live session, you can catch it 48 hours after in your member section. And so if you've paid for it and you miss it, it's not like, well, sorry, I get it. I could sit down and say, okay, at 9 o'clock I'm going to sit down and watch this live event and if my kid needs me, my kid needs me, and that's just how it is. And so the goal is to have this prerecorded. It's not a goal. It is going to be recorded and then put into a member site about 48 hours after the actual live event, so they're going to have access regardless.

Speaker 3: 29:28

And I also wanted to encourage people. There are organizations that are providing like I'm partnering with organizations that have decided they care more about the client than they do about their bottom line and they're paying for people like me to come in and help their clients. So if you have an organization that you need a piece of equipment or you work with a lot and you're spending a lot of money, you can say, hey, have you worked with a patient advocate, or do you have somebody that will help me, have you worked with advocacy Abby? There are people out there that are looking for those kind of resources and organizations are finally starting to clue in like, hey, maybe we should help these families, not just pose what we have to offer but help them get it, and so that's another way to save resources from your end.

Speaker 3: 30:10

And then also, you know the companies start to realize like these families need help, because I get it the time thing that you were saying about, like sometimes you just feel like you don't have time but you need these things, and so it's this long process until you finally get there. There's other ways around it, because the goal is to make this easier, to cut off stuff, so you're not looking everywhere. Give you direct resources that will help you find the things that you need specifically. And so, because I remember I looked for the waiver it took me three days to get my kid, to get a phone number for my kid for the Medicaid waiver in the state of Florida, because they did not make it easily accessible. People in the state didn't know where it was. Yeah, I feel you all the time.

Speaker 4: 30:54

Yeah, I could go down a whole rabbit hole on that one, but I'm going to let that one just hang where it is. So, from a time commitment, since we're on that topic, what if I sign up? What would I expect? Is it like weekly meeting for how many weeks? Or what is it?

Speaker 3: 31:10

Several weeks. I haven't got the exact. I'm trying to write out the exact last things, but it'll be several weeks of small spurts of live, cause I want to give an option for question and answer at the end. So this is unique to the live course. I want for each family to be able to pose some questions and me try to answer them on the spot. This will also help me realize you know what exactly you guys need help with even more, and so I can prepare that.

Speaker 3: 31:36

You're going to get downloadables that will make it easy, so you're not going to have to have all the notes written out. You're not going to be writing the whole time trying to get it all down. I'm going to have that done for you and you can just download it and take little side notes as you think of something. Oh yeah, I should ask my therapist about this, or you know my doctor about this. You'll be able to write those little notes down, and I also have some things that will help give you prompts when you're starting to like make your toolbox. I have a toolbox that will help it make it easier for you to get your grant. Once you have that done, it's going to be really, really simple. And so all of that's going to be given to you and it'll be over several weeks and then you're going to be able to go back and access this. So, if you go, what did she say about you know that insurance thing? I can't, you know, and I lost my paper. You can just go back and listen again.

Speaker 4: 32:21

That's amazing, and are the resources mostly relevant to a certain geographical area, or is it like this is across?

Speaker 3: 32:29

the US, across the world, north America, although Canadian healthcare is very different than ours, so there are some different exceptions, but the principles are the same.

Speaker 3: 32:39

The advocacy part the only part I think that might be the most effective would be the insurance Medicaid part. That people would have to like kind of think through their own health care system in their country, but it's definitely national. I've had lots of friends in Canada that have gone through some of this information with me. It still applies to grants, all of that still applies, and the reframing there's some reframing mind work in in the course and so, like, all of that will be applicable to anyone. I have people in Spain and England and Africa all coming to be a part of this. So I definitely have that in mind and honestly, even with the insurance part, I think some of the questions I asked whether you're on a universal healthcare system or not are relevant relevant no matter what. These questions need to be asked, and so hopefully it will help anyone. I don't think, no matter where you are, you'd walk away being like, well, that didn't help, it will definitely help.

Speaker 1: 33:35

Yeah, right.

Speaker 1: 33:36

You know a lot of times what you've, and this is just in life in general. It's not exclusive to this journey, but the reality is is we don't know what we don't know and going through something like this, like you said, there is so much value to hearing the proper questions to ask, through cutting through the layers of you know, trying to whittle down to the right question. That's actually going to get you answers you need, and I'm willing to bet there's going to be a lot of instances that you'll hear Abby discuss what some of those questions or guides are and it's going to make you think of something else. Oh, maybe she's not talking about this example specifically, but it will help equip you and empower you to address something else that your family might be struggling with specifically, and training. There's so much power that comes from education like this and empowering you as that advocate and to throw this into your arsenal or your toolbox. I just there's so much value to come from this and I'm so excited to hear about how the first course goes and I'm going to put myself on that wait list because I think it is just too important to miss With really quick.

Speaker 1: 34:52

I know we have a few minutes left of Abby's time because, first and foremost, we are active parents, right, and so I know Abby has some kids to pick up in a little bit. But I wanted to end this episode with a couple of things. One, abby, can you share with us? You were telling us about a really cool free resource that you were kind enough to put together that we're going to share with our listeners. Can you describe what that is? It's?

Speaker 3: 35:15

called 10 Questions to Empower you. It's questions that you can ask your insurance or Medicaid contact and I highly recommend everybody get this, no matter where you are. They're good questions. It's a little piece of our course, so you're going to get this for free. You just need to go to the link in my bio on Instagram or the link in the shows and they can download that and there's space for notes and it's just questions that some of them you're going to be like yes, I've asked this before and some of you might be like I would not in a million years think to ask this. So hopefully it'll be beneficial and help someone on that journey, Hopefully find value in it and you can get a little tiny taste of of what you'll get in the course and maybe it'll just help somebody get something covered so they can afford what their child needs.

Speaker 1: 36:01

That's amazing, I cannot recommend that people who are listening to this that we share this episode as much as possible, because obviously today we're talking about what it's like raising a child with medical complexities, but I'm willing to bet that there are still a lot of those questions in that thought process that you are talking about. Abby will equip anybody who's in a caregiver position. Yes, my mom, who helps take care of not only my kids, has been involved in my journey, but who has helped me taking care of you know my grandmother, who's had a robust medical journey these last few years. So many people can benefit from this content and the more people who share it, the better chance we have of getting this valuable information to people who are just desperate for it.

Speaker 4: 36:44

You know, I've actually heard from multiple people who have listened to the podcast very faithfully. They've said several times this podcast is not just relevant to those who have children with complex medical needs, it's relevant to life in general and to all the different generations. And so, while, of course, our target and our focus remains with parents who have children with these complex needs, I think you just hit the nail on the head, ashlyn, that this is so relevant to so many people. And also I just want to share I'm just going to be super transparent with everybody listening here I've been realizing throughout this conversation that the only communication I've ever had with our insurance is when something's not covered that needs to be, and I go, you know, to discuss it with them and figure out what we need to do. And so, like the concept of calling them with 10 questions is a whole new concept to me and I can't, like I'm battling internally with how have I gone this long without actually proactively going to insurance?

Speaker 4: 37:44

So if anybody's listening and having that internal battle too or thinking like, oh my gosh, I feel like I'm going to listen to this, this course, and be so overwhelmed with all the things I haven't done thus far. I'm there with you too, but I'm also so excited that, like, you've just opened this whole new world to me that I never even thought could exist. So, um, and it's like crazy to even think you know six years down the road and never even thought to have these conversations. So I imagine many of our listeners are in that same boat. Or maybe you're listening and like, oh yeah, I've totally done that too. We want to hear from you. Tell us what you've done, you know, hit us with your tips and um, and we just cannot wait to join your course, abby and learn a ton.

Speaker 3: 38:23

I can't wait to just be a sponge. I'm excited for the question and answer part because it's just going to sharpen what I'm able to give to everyone, and so I'm really excited.

Speaker 1: 38:32

Yeah Well, abby, thank you so much for joining us today. You are a true beacon of hope and light and we are all benefiting for this. And you know, I I think there's a lot more to come from from advocacy, abby, everyone. I think that we have a lot more to uh create in the future together, because you are doing some remarkable things and we can't wait to help bring more people to you to share that light, share that information, and that's how we get through this. None of us go through this alone. We can't, and if we try to, we're going to flounder a whole lot longer and I just it's. This is a life raft.

Speaker 3: 39:15

Thank you for your platform too sharing and caring. It's really nice. It's nice to see other warrior moms, just you know, forging a path. So thank you guys.

Speaker 4: 39:29

It takes us all and it's fun to see you know. Really, when we set out to do Charlotte's Hope Foundation, we said adamantly from the beginning we're not going to repeat anything anybody else has done. We're only going to promote, come alongside, boost up and champion all together this mission of supporting our kids. And and so it's um man, what a pleasure it is to meet you, abby. Can't wait to do more with you, can't wait to join your course, and I'm just grateful for your time.

Speaker 2: 39:58

You are capable, you are equipped and you are not alone. Together, we can do hard things for our children. If this episode connected with you and you want to hear more, be sure to hit the subscribe button. We would also love to learn about your personal journey and how we can support you. Reach out to us at contact at charlotteshopefoundationorg. And, last but not least, if you know of someone who could benefit from this podcast, please share.